Funeral homes help soldiers receive Christmas stockings

As part of the annual Veterans and Family Memorial Care Christmas Stockings for Soldiers initiative, Bartolomeo & Perotto Funeral Home and Walker Brothers Funeral Home shipped nearly 2,800 Christmas stockings to soldiers overseas in December.

The local funeral homes collected stockings and items for the initiative from community members in Greece, Spencerport, Chili and Ogden.

This was the third year that Bartolomeo & Perotto participated in the stocking drive, and the first in which it partnered with Walker Brothers.

Participation in the program has increased substantially: In 2010, just 100 stockings were shipped overseas, and this year, the two funeral homes had set a goal of collecting 1,000 stockings.

Organizers hope for even greater success next year.

"Because of the generosity of our community, we're able to recognize thousands of hardworking soldiers deployed all over the world that cannot be with their families during the holidays," said David Perotto, vice president and funeral director, Bartolomeo & Perotto Funeral Home in a statement. "The support that we received from Walker Brothers and the communities they serve has helped us continue to grow this program and we hope to reach even more soldiers next season with love and support from home."